The Dreamer

Dave Chappelle opens his seventh Netflix special with a story about visiting the set of Man on the Moon and finding Jim Carrey refusing to break character as Andy Kaufman, comparing the actor’s insistence to transgender identity. It is a prompt signal that despite promising to move on from the topic in his previous hour, he is not quite ready to let it go. Filmed at the Lincoln Theatre in Washington, D.C., and released on New Year’s Eve in 2023, the performance feels like a victory lap by a performer who knows he is too big to be derailed. Under the direction of Stan Lathan, the set uses a narrative frame about holding onto childhood aspirations. He reacts to Will Smith slapping Chris Rock, brings back his running commentary on Jussie Smollett, and settles into the comfortable, slower-paced storytelling that has defined his late-career style, including an extended anecdote about performing over the thumping bass of a San Francisco nightclub early in his career. Critics largely dismissed the hour as a repetitive effort that relied on familiar provocations, while fans of his later style found comfort in his slower, anecdote-driven delivery.